Association of Environmental and Occupational Health (IAOH) has honoured the Associate Professor of NIDM Dr. Anil K Gupta with the Excellence Award for the year 2012 during its 62nd Annual National Conference of Indian Association of Occupation Health (IAOH) 1-4 February 2012 at New Delhi. The award was given on the thematic category of 'health promotion at the workplace - Partnership for Concerted Action' and 'Changing face of occupational health'. The citation was presented to Dr. Gupta in a special Symposium on 4th February 2012 for his outstanding contribution in the area of disaster risk reduction and environmental-health. Dr. Gupta also delivered a special talk on disaster risk reduction and environmental-health in the changing-climate.

NIDM team's visit to Cyclone 'Thane' affected Region

A two member team of NIDM (Hydro Meteorological Division) comprising Dr KJ Ananda Kumar, Associate Professor and Head of Division and Mr Biswanath Dash, Assistant Professor visited the cyclone affected areas of Cuddalore District, Tamilnadu and the UT of Puducherry during 16-21st Jan. 2012 to document cyclone 'Thane'. The cyclone made a landfall over Cuddalore and Puducherry on the morning hours of 30th Dec. causing loss of 53 human lives and massive property damages.

The two member team visited Cuddalore district from 16-18th Jan and held discussion with officials from District Administration including District Collector, Sub Collector, DRO, DPRO and others. They visited the affected villages of Chidambaram and Cuddalore Taluk and held discussions with local functionaries such as Revenue Inspector, Tehsildar, Village Administrative Officer and Assistant Village Administrative Officer. The team also held interaction with local population in the coastal villages of Parangipettai, Annankoil, Mudasal Odai, Madavapallam, Ayampettai, Thaikkal, Thzankuda. The NIDM faculty members visited the taluk of Panrutti with Mr R Ratnoo, Director, Fisheries Departmen and Monitoring Officer, Govt. Of Tamilnadu to document the damage to cashew plantations.

The team visited Union Territory of Puducherry on 19-21st Jan. 2012 and held discussion with District Collector, Puducherry, Officer in Charge (DM) and other local level functionaries. They visited the Emergency Operation Centre (Control Room) at Puducherry and discussed with officials who made a presentation on emergency response during the cyclone. The team then proceeded to visit the affected villages such as Manalmedu, Parikalpattu, Irulanchandai, Murthikuppam Pudukuppam and discussions were held with local people in these coastal villages on warning, evacuation, relief and recovery.

The detailed report under preparation aims to document the early warning, evacuation, response and relief management, damage and loss etc. for future reference.

National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) and the Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (PEDRR), United Nations jointly organized a 4 days, Training Workshop on Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction during 12-15 December 2011 at NIDM, New Delhi. The Training Course aims to strengthen capacities of vulnerable countries and communities to mainstream Ecosystem-based DRR in national and local development planning processes. It specifically targets government officials, as well as National Disaster Management Institutions (and their respective Training Divisions) and National Public Training Institutions with the mandate to provide trainings on DRR-related issues in-country. The course was inaugurated by Dr. Rakesh Hooja, Director, Indian Institute of Public Administration. The valedictory session was presided by Dr. Muzaffar Ahmad, Honourable Member of National Disaster Management Authority, Government of India.